The Echo Chamber

I bet you were dying to read about politics.

(insert groans and laugh track)

I have so many thoughts and opinions. I also feel a reverence for the power of words. I can’t just say anything that floats my fancy.

On the book of many faces, I have carefully chosen to exchange ideas with friends whose views differ from my own, in order to avoid the dreaded echo chamber. When Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016, I was shocked and I think I was shocked because I wasn’t prepared for the idea that so many people held different views from my own. I was too enmeshed in the echo chamber. And so I strive to listen to smart friends with different ideas. I have to say smart friends because I have heard some pretty stupid ideas in my efforts to listen. This isn’t an attack. It’s just a statement of what is.

I have one friend who has brought me a great amount of peace through our exchange of ideas. On Election night, when it looked like Trump was going to win the election, she reached out to me in kindness and sent me this message:

“I’m looking at the projections. Are you going to be okay? I know you were already worried based on the post yesterday. Do I need to send chocolate?

I responded with this:

“Yes. I will be good. I haven’t looked lately. I’m listening to ksl radio to hear about local races right now. Thank you for reaching out!”

We went back and forth all night and for the past three days. We talked about the new Republican governor of Utah, Spencer Cox. We talked about some of the tight local races. She shared her fears about one candidate and her hopes for others. We talked about different states and tried to understand why red states were turning blue. We talked a lot about Arizona, and we’re in agreement that putting the recreational marijuana use proposition on the ballot probably brought out more Biden voters than the giant Trump train. I cheered for her when I found something good about Republicans. She cheered for me when she found something good about Democrats. We reaffirmed our mutual faith in the Constitution and in our great country. We reaffirmed our mutual faith in faith and in God. We talked about our kids at school or online during Coronavirus. Back and forth, our messages were kind and uplifting.

To be clear, she is not a racist. She is married to a good Hawaiian man. I am married to a good Mexican man. She does not hate anyone. She simply has different political priorities. We both see things differently. And yet, we are capable of loving one another wholeheartedly.

I listened to Utah Governor Elect Spencer Cox’s acceptance speech on the radio Tuesday night and I was so impressed by his words. I have to paraphrase this because I can’t find a copy of his speech. “To my friends who are all about saving tax money, I encourage you to personally reach out to the poor, homeless, elderly and disabled. When we fight for life, we need to support the lives of all Utahns, black, white, brown, and immigrant”–and more. I really wish I could find this speech. It was so good to see him addressing the concerns that Utah Democrats have, while addressing his Republican citizens.

I want to make it clear that my heart is full of love for my friends on both sides of the political aisle.

However, in this love fest I feel for my fellow citizens, I am mortified by President Trump. I am so ashamed of his actions. I don’t need to rehash them. You can watch his speeches on early morning Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. His words did nothing but sow fear and animosity. He did nothing to forward this great nation. He is the president of this nation, and responsible for upholding the constitution and the voice of the people. His first care is to make sure that our nation moves forward in peace. We are so used to ignoring the foolishness of his tweets and the careless words he flings about. I want to ignore it. I want to only focus on the good, but it breaks my heart to see him using his power to rile up voters to anger and vitriol.

That’s all I’ll say about politics for now. I encourage you to seek out a friend with different ideas about governance and exchange thoughts with kindness and love. Leave the echo chamber behind. We are all in this together. Let’s move forward, together.